REASONS TO BE PRETTY

by Neil LaBute10 November 2011 - 14 January 2012

Greg is overheard admitting that his girlfriend Steph is no beauty, but that he wouldn't change her for the world. She is devastated; he can't quite see what he’s done wrong. Meanwhile, Greg's best friend Kent alternates between boasting about how gorgeous his wife, Carly, is and chasing after a hot new colleague.

Reasons to be Pretty examines our perception of beauty and asks whether it is as much of a curse to be conventionally attractive as it is to be considered ugly. This is the final part of Neil LaBute's trilogy about society's obsession with looks following The Shape of Things, which received its World premiere at the Almeida in 2001 and Fat Pig, which was a West End hit in 2008.

Creative TeamDirector Neil LaBute

Neil LaButeWriter & DirectorThe Almeida began its relationship with LaBute in 2000 when it presented his bash: latter-day plays. Their close association with the playwright continued with productions of The Shape of Things, The Distance From Here, The Mercy Seat and In a Dark Dark House. LaBute’s other plays include Autobahn, Fat Pig, Some Girls, This Is How It Goes and In A Forest Dark and Deep which has recently opened at the Vaudeville Theatre. LaBute received his Master of Fine Arts degree in dramatic writing from New York University and was the recipient of a literary fellowship to study at the Royal Court Theatre and attended the Sundance Institute’s Playwrights Lab. His films include In the Company of Men, for which he won the New York Critics’ Circle Award for Best First Feature and the Filmmakers’ Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival, Your Friends and Neighbors, Nurse Betty, Possession and The Shape of Things - a film adaptation of his play by the same title. LaBute is the author of several fictional pieces that have been published in The New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar and Playboy among others, and Seconds of Pleasure, a collection of his short stories was published by Grove Atlantic.